Frazey Ford - You kin B the Sun (Album Review)
With a matchless voice that somehow balances a DiFranco charm with a Piaf vibrato, Frazey Ford made her name as part of The Be Good Tanyas back in 1999. Two decades on, we find her three albums into a solo career that’s taken her far from those banjo-whispering beginnings and her latest, U Kin B The Sun, effectively completes a ten-year transition from folkstress to funk-soul sister.
Fans may well be uneasy about this wholesale stylistic shift but they really ought to have seen it coming. Ford’s last release, 2014’s Indian Ocean, saw her teaming up with the legendary Memphis Hi Rhythm Section, who sprinkled groove and glow in equal measure over Ford’s unmistakably drifty acoustic-driven songs of hope and defiance. For U Kin B The Sun, Ford - working once again alongside producer John Raham - has ditched the horns, thrown the guitar in the back seat and entrusted the keys to drummer Leon Power and bassist Darren Parris. This faultlessly tight pair remain upfront with the (much looser) Ford, driving an album that is more immediate than its predecessor but no less sassy.
The record blazes open with the euphoric ‘Azad’, packed with funk and swagger courtesy of that thick bass and those chittering drums. Inspired by Ford’s early experience of growing up in a Canadian commune, it’s a carpe diem clarion call to the young: “Oh young thing/You cannot be tamed in this life/Find your feet/Go wide for the red western sky/It’s all yours/Go get what you want/It’s your life/I’ll be here/I’ll watch you set them on fire.” It’s an idealistic sentiment but Ford sings it with such joy and abandon you can’t help but be swept along. Later on, ‘The Kids Are Having None Of It’ - possibly the most laid-back activist song that you’ll ever hear - continues this theme of youth empowerment as Frazey sleepily sticks it to the man, telling him “Get out of the way/You’ve had your day… The kids are having none of it/They can’t be bought/They can't be taught your hate.”
Through the record, more intimate and confessional tracks like ‘U and Me’ and ‘Let’s Start Again’ rub shoulders warily with the more overt R&B stylings of ‘Holding It Down’ and ‘Money Can’t Buy’. The tension between the songs offer a snapshot of where Frazey Ford has been and where she is going and everything somehow marries together beneath that remarkable voice, the full breadth of which Ford is finally realising. Granted, there are missteps along the way; the drawl of ‘Motherfucker’ and the trippy fug of title track ‘U Kin B The Sun’ are likely to leave no lasting impression but, for the most part, an excellent balance is struck. ‘Golden’ which, in spite of (or maybe because of) its Nile Rodgers disco feel is one of the record’s most memorable moments, as is the meandering but nonetheless yearning soul of ‘Everywhere’.
U Kin B The Sun ought to open Frazey Ford up to a whole raft of new fans and, while devotees are in for a few surprises, I’m happy to report that most of these are very welcome. If, like me, you’ve long been bewitched by Frazey Ford’s peerless, comfort-blanket voice, then U Kin B The Sun won’t disappoint and doubtless you’ll be willing to follow her in whatever direction she chooses to take next.
Review by Rich Barnard
A new name to me, but based on the new EP, ‘Tigers in Your Backyard (Nocturnal Edition)’, Molly Murphy is one to watch. Initially, Molly embarked on a promising college career as a double Film and English Major pursuing a career in screenwriting but left all that behind to form a band (as you do). Murphy’s latest release finds the singer-songwriter adding a modern sheen to her traditional Celtic roots.